Masked Memories
by t0ky0-chan
Summary: [AU] Ran and Shinichi were separated for 14 years. Now, when the two friends have been reunited, something happens that threatens to ruin their relationship. The two lovers must fight for each other, while fighting for themselves. Completed 12-15-04
1. Reunion

**Disclaimer: Anything or anyone used from Detective Conan belongs to someone who draws a whole lot better than me....**

Masked Memories

_By: mysteriousangelgirl_

Chapter 1: Reunion

"Kudo Shinichi, the most famous young adult detective in all of Japan, solved another impossible case yesterday at the Fasoto Mansion, where Ako Fasoto was killed. He....." the news reporter droned on and on about the recent case that Shinichi had solved.

The tall young man with black hair and deep blue eyes sighed as he turned away from the TV broadcasting inside the store. He looked up at the sky and smiled at the light snowflakes that fell on his face and into his hair. _I love the snow.....It reminds me of her....._

Shinichi shook his head. _Why am I thinking of her again? It was only a dream........Or was it? _Shinichi sighed again as he ran a hand through his short black hair. Then he walked away from the store, crossed the street and got into a blue sports car. He gunned the engine and drove off, all the while thinking of a specific girl with dark brown hair.

_He remembered that day. Even though he was only 7, he remembered it very clearly. His childhood friend, with her short chocolate-brown hair, was walking to school with him. It was the day before school let out for winter vacation. He had left early to give her a Christmas present. He knew that she would definitely like it. But for some reason, today, she wasn't very happy. She had on a smile, but to Shinichi's sharp eyes, he could tell it was fake and strained. Shinichi was just about to ask her what was wrong, but she shoved a small packet toward him, her face slightly red._

_"Ehh? For me?" Shinichi smiled._

_The girl nodded._

_"Thanks, and this is for you." Shinichi handed her a carefully wrapped box. "Be careful, it can break."_

_The girl looked at the box for a bit, then looked into Shinichi's eyes and smiled. "Thanks, Shinichi."_

_Shinichi nodded. He grinned. "I bet you'll love it!"_

_The girl just smiled. _

_"Oh you know, winter is my favorite season. The snowflakes all look so pretty.......I wonder which season Holmes liked the best.....I'm not sure....let's think....oh yeah, I just read another one of his stories......."_

_Normally the girl would have slapped him for talking so much about his idol, Sherlock Holmes, but today, she just smiled and kept silent, listening to her best friend tell her all about Holmes's adventures. No one knew how much sadness would come to both of them._

_---------------------------------------------------_

_-after school-_

_"Hey, Ran! Wait up!" Shinichi called to the girl walking down the hall. She stopped at the familiar voice and her name. When Shinichi caught up to her, she smiled and took his hand._

_"So, Shinichi, what are you doing for Christmas?"_

_"Well, I'm not sure, maybe Mommy and Daddy will take me to the ice skating rink. But Daddy's kind of busy trying to finish his book, so maybe not....Hey, if Mommy will take me, you want to come??" Shinichi asked excitedly._

_Ran smiled. "Okay, but I have to ask my parents."_

_Shinichi laughed. "No, Ran. You may not go, it will interrupt with your studies," he said, imitating Ran's mother. _

_Ran laughed. "Mommy doesn't sound so mean!"_

_Shinichi grinned. "Oh yes she does!"_

_"Whatever."_

_"Come on, I'll race you home!" Shinichi let go of Ran's hand and raced ahead._

_"Hey! No fair, you got a head start!!!" Ran yelled as she ran to catch up with her friend._

_-------------------------------------------------_

_-at Ran's house (Mouri Detective Agency, but at that time, it wasn't a detective agency yet)_

_"Mommy! I'm home!!!" Little Ran cried as she stormed into the house._

_No answer, except for the blaring of the television._

_"Mommy?"_

_No answer._

_"Daddy?"_

_No answer._

_"MOMMY, DADDY, WHERE ARE YOU???" Ran's voice raised a level as she grew scared and worried. She ran over to the window and saw that Shinichi was still waiting for her. He rubbed his hands together and stomped his feet to keep warm. He was hoping that Ran could sleep over tonight._

_Ran turned back to face the empty room. _Where was Mommy and Daddy?? _Ran sniffled a cry as she ran around the house, looking for her missing parents. "Mommy? Daddy?"_

_Suddenly, the flushing of the toilet pulled Ran out of her shocked state. "Daddy?"_

_Her father, Mouri Kogoro, looking quite gruff, came walking out of the bathroom. "Oh, it's you, Ran. I thought I heard someone yelling." Kogoro patted his daughter's head and then walked away._

_Knowing her parents too well, she saw a look of sadness and pain on her father's face. "Daddy!" she cried as she ran after her retreating father. "Daddy, what's wrong?" she asked, pulling on his shirt sleeve._

_Kogoro looked at her for a second, then bent down and put his hand on her shoulder. "Nothing's wrong....I'm just tired."_

_Ran looked unbelieving for a second and then smiled. "Good, I thought you were sick or something. Daddy, where's Mommy?"_

_Kogoro froze, with his hand just above her head. "She left."_

_"What? What do you mean Mommy left?"_

_"Ran, just don't ask, please." Kogoro stood up and walked back to his desk._

_"But...but....Daddy, I wanna see Mommy!!!!" Ran burst into tears, as she ran from the room. She got outside to where Shinichi was waiting and then buried her face into his jacket._

_"Ran! Wait, wha...Ran! What's wrong??" Shinichi put his arms around the sobbing girl. "If you can't come, that's okay, it's no need to cry!"_

_"No...Shinichi.....Daddy says...Mommy gone...I wanna see Mommy!" Ran managed to choke out between sobs._

_"Wait wait wait, what are you saying, Ran?"_

_"Shinichi....." Ran gripped his jacket even harder._

_"Ran, its okay. It's okay." Shinichi tried to comfort his sobbing friend, all the while thinking what could have happened._

_Later that day, after Ran had sobbed herself dry of tears, she said, "Thank you Shinichi. I'm sorry for just surprising you like that."_

_Shinichi smiled. "No worries. It's okay. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"_

_Ran nodded as she watched her childhood friend sprint out of sight. "Bye, Shinichi......."_

_She didn't know that it would last time she would see her childhood friend._

_--------------------------------------------------------------------------_

_-the next morning-_

_Shinichi knocked on the door to Ran's house. After a few seconds, Kogoro opened the door. "Oh, it's you. You looking for Ran?"_

_"Yes, sir."_

_"I'm sorry, but's not here anymore."_

_"Pardon me, sir, I don't quite understand....." Shinichi thought he had heard wrong._

_"I said, Ran isn't here anymore, you got that? She left with her mother, for __America__, yesterday evening."_

_"__America__? She never told me!"_

_"Oh course not. She didn't tell me either. Now don't bother me anymore. Shoo!" Kogoro slammed the door in his face._

_Shinichi walked down the stairs, completely lost in his own thoughts. _Ran....gone? To America? No way! _Shinichi shook his head as he continued the walk to school alone. Then he felt something wet roll down his cheek. He wiped away his tears and ran all the way to school. _

_At school, Shinichi couldn't concentrate. He got called on by teachers for his lack of attention, and almost got detention, if he hadn't guessed right. As he walked home, he decided to walk past Ran's house, to see if she was really gone. To his surprise, the building which his childhood friend had lived in, it was almost completely empty. He saw Ran's father, Kogoro, standing outside, talking to man with blue cap and a clipboard. All the while, there were people going in and out of the house with furniture. He ran up to Kogoro and asked, "Where are you going??"_

_Kogoro glared at him but said, "I'm moving, can't you see?" Then he resumed his talk with the man. _

_Shinichi backed away. Then he ran home. Once got him and kicked off his shoes, he ran up to his room and buried himself in his blankets and pillows. He must have cried himself to sleep because when he woke up, he was wrapped up in his blankets and pillows, his eyes swollen from crying. He went to the bathroom to clean up and saw how bad his face looked. _Thank goodness there's no more school....._Shinichi splashed water on his face and then washed his hands._

_He headed downstairs and glanced at the clock in the living room. It was 7. Shinichi sighed as he saw his parents in the kitchen, both with worried looks on their faces._

_"Are you okay, Shin-chan?" Yukiko asked his son, setting down her coffee and running over to hug her son. Shinichi nodded as he let himself get embraced._

_Yusaku nodded at his son and Shinichi nodded back. Father and son seemed to be able to have unspoken conversations. The day went on without any tears or questions of what happened. _

_Shinichi went to sleep that night, thinking of Ran, his childhood friend......._

Shinichi sat in his room thinking. _Why do my thoughts keep wandering back to her? _He sighed again and set down his bag. Everything had happened so quickly. Without Ran at his side, he went through school and sports alone, but he knew that she would have been proud of him, if she was still here. Three years ago, on a date in this amusement park, he had run off on the girl, and then after that encounter with the black men, he was stuck as Edogawa Conan for two years, living with Hagase as his distant relative, until Haibara finally came up with a cure. He had regained his body, took down the black organization with his friends' help, and finally returned to a normal life as Kudo Shinichi.

Now Kudo Shinichi was 21, a senior at Tokyo University, best player of a soccer team, and a famous detective. He wasn't engaged or married, and was at the top of the school. He helped many soccer teams get high ranks, and himself getting a higher rank in the detective force of the police department.

Shinichi fingered the gift that Ran had given to him exactly 14 years ago. It was a small flat circle locket on a chain. On the outside of the locket was engraved the words 'Kudo Shinichi'. Ran had it made personally for him. Inside were two pictures. One was a picture taken at the park, where Shinichi was on the swing and Ran was behind him and she had her arms wrapped around his shoulders. They were both smiling like innocent little kids. The other picture was of Ran herself. She was holding a rose, and Shinichi had recognized it as the rose he gave her when she passed her first karate belt test. Besides from the locket there had been a letter. Shinichi opened the drawer of his desk containing the letter. As he unfolded it for like the billionth time, he felt tears starting to well up in his eyes. In Ran's unmistakable handwriting, it said:

_Dear Shin-chan_

_ I don't know if you'll like this gift, but I think it's a good way to remember each other, not that anything's going to separate us, but you know, in case._

Shinichi smiled. _It sure helped then. Thanks._ Then he continued to read.

_Thank you for the rose you gave me. I would have kept it forever, but you know that roses don't live forever. Thanks. Oh, you like that picture that Mommy took? It was so pretty. I have one too. I hope you keep it. We had so much fun that day. Oh, yeah. Don't you remember the promise we made that day? You know, we promised that no matter what happened, you would be my friend and I promised you that if you ever got in trouble, I'll use my karate to protect you, right? Well, I hope that we will keep this promise. Oh yes, there was another promise. A promise to always be friends, right? I hope you don't forget, because you'll always be my friend, Shinichi! I guess I have to thank you for the time the six graders were teasing me and you got them all to go away. Well, I'll ask Mommy about ice skating, but please don't be upset if I can't come. Mommy's been busy so I'm not sure she'll agree. Anyways, I hope you have a merry Christmas! _

_ Love,_

_ Mouri Ran_

_P.S. Call me when you get time, okay?_

Shinichi folded the letter back to thirds and smiled. _I'm sorry, Ran. I can only keep the promise of always being friends. _He put the letter back in the drawer and stood up from his desk. He wandered to the kitchen and began looking through the mail he had left on the counter when he came into the house. _Fan, fan, fan, fan, electric bill, worry later....credit card, later......fan, fan, fan, fan, fan, and no return address, fan, fan....wait a minute....._Shinichi flipped back through the stack a mail until he came to the mail with no address. It was just a plain envelope, but what caught his eye was that the envelope was addressed to 'Shin-chan'. _Hmm...no one calls me that beside Mom........but Mom's currently touring the world for the SECOND time, and there's no way she would send a letter when she just called yesterday..._

Shinichi tore open the envelope and as he opened the letter, he knew his jaw must have hit the ground. It said:

_Dear Shin-chan,_

_ I know that I never call you this, and that's the only way to get your attention. Did you notice that I called you that in my letter about 14 years ago? Well, maybe you did, but I got that from your mom. I think it's cute! Well, you may be wondering why I'm writing to you. I was in __Japan__ recently, so I decided to write you. Maybe you've forgotten me, but I've never forgotten you, Shinichi. Do you remember that promise you made me when we in the park? Since we're not together anymore, I know we can't keep the promise of protecting each other, but I keep our other promise. You're still my best friend._

_I thank you now, I know it's really really late, but Mommy wouldn't let me send a letter....for that picture frame you gave me. If you remember that picture that I gave you in your locket, that's the picture I put in your picture frame. I hope you've keep that locket. Anyway, hopefully you don't take this letter as a fan's letter, but most likely you wouldn't have read it, if you did. I can't contact you, but wait for me. I'll be back in __Japan__ soon._

_ Love,_

_ Who else? Your childhood friend_

_P.S. I hope you didn't forget me. I'm not putting my name, just in case you did, that way you won't rack your brain too hard._

Shinichi stood there with his mouth open, the letter clutching in his hand for a few minutes. Finally, he got a hold of himself, closed the letter and smiled. As he walked back upstairs to place the letter with her previous letter about 14 years ago, he could feel a grin creeping onto his face. _Yes, she's coming back! _Then he wandered back downstairs to prepare his dinner, do a bit of studying for the exam tomorrow, and get his bills paid.

The next morning, Shinichi woke up feeling a lot better than he had in 14 years. All through school he had a giant grin on his face. He knew he must have looked idiotic, but he aced his exam, scored 6 goals during the soccer game, and managed to get home without a case. Though normally he would have a bit sad, today he didn't want anything to bother his daydreaming about the girl from 14 years ago.

As he sat in his room, at his desk, with his locket open on the desk and a lopsided grin on his face, he thought about all the time they had been together. _It seemed like it was just yesterday. _Shinichi finally got up and went to the kitchen. As he was micro-waving his dinner, he flipped through the mail. _Nothing interesting...._While chewing on some steak, he turned on the TV.

"There was a recent murder case in Osaka that stumped everyone but the great detective Hattori Heiji......"

Shinichi looked up at the screen at the mention of his long time friend. He smiled as the murder case was unfolded and he noticed Heiji's famous movement of solving a case, turning his cap from its backward position on his head to the normal position a cap would be worn.

Then he flipped the channel and laughed to himself as he saw a famous magician's show. The magician smiled at the camera, as if he could sense his friend's eyes watching him. _What is with me and finding all of my friends on TV today?? _"Hope you're doing alright, Kaito......." Shinichi said before he turned his head to the ring of the doorbell.

"Doorbell, I wonder who would come now......" he muttered as he wandered to the front door, leaving the TV on and his dinner half eaten. He looked through the peephole and was so surprised at who it was that he almost banged his head on the door when his hand slipped from the doorknob. When he finally got the door open, the girl ran forward and hugged him so hard that they both landed on the floor in a heap.

"Ran!"

"Shinichi, it's been SOOO long!!!" she said into his t-shirt.

Shinichi smiled as he wrapped his arms around the girl. "I know......." Then he noticed what she was dressed in when they finally let go of each other. Ran had long brown hair and was wearing a white shirt with a blue ribbon. Her skirt was blue and short and she was wearing blue heels.

"Is.....is that your uniform?"

Ran nodded. "It's obvious, isn't it? Mom made me wear it!"

Shinichi laughed. "Don't worry, its okay. Wow....you haven't changed much....."

Ran blushed. "You haven't either.....thankfully you're so famous now. It was real easy to get your address!"

Shinichi laughed again as he shut the door. "Wanna stay for a while?"

Ran smiled but shook her head. "Sorry, but I have to go meet Mom for dinner with her 'friends' from work....."

Shinichi nodded. "Yeah, your mom is always really busy with work....."

Ran hugged Shinichi again. "I'm really glad I got to see you....."

Shinichi put his arms around Ran and held her for a bit. "Thanks for coming to see me......it's been so long......."

As the two childhood friends let got of each other and parted their ways, Ran turned on last time to Shinichi and pulled out a locket from under her collar. "I have one just like you," and then ran off to her car parked in front of his house.

Shinichi blinked and then waved at the car driving away, playing with his locket with the other hand, as he shut the door. _Wow.....it's like a small reunion with all my friend today.....lucky me....._Then he returned to his dinner and TV. The day went by, and neither Shinichi nor Ran knew that the most terrible thing that could happen to them would soon occur.....

-to be continued-

_Okay, my first try at an alternate universe, though it isn't COMPLETELY alternate......Anyways, inspired by my friend who said, 'why don't you write a story? Use the title 'Masked Memories' and make it AU!' I was like, 'okay....' Though I'm not completely sure how this is going to turn out, hopefully you like it and you can help by making suggestions and all. Thanks, and please review!!!_


	2. Disaster

**Disclaimer: Anything used from Detective Conan or Magic Kaito belongs to their owners. **

Masked Memories

_By: mysteriousangelgirl_

Chapter 2: Disaster

After Ran had come to find him, Shinichi had been expecting another visit within the week. But days became weeks and weeks became months. It almost half a year later, Shinichi had graduated from Tokyo University, and had finally gotten a permanent license as a detective for the Tokyo Police Force. He got many cases, and managed to solve them all with little difficulty, but he was still bothered by the fact that he hadn't heard from Ran for so many months. There was no phone call, no letter, no visit, no nothing. Finally, Shinichi gave up waiting for her and decided she must have gone back to America and was too busy to contact him.

Then one day, as Shinichi was driving home from work, he happened to drive by the Beika Central Hospital. What caught his eye was the sight of a young girl in a wheelchair. She looked just like Ran, except that she was very pale and didn't look like the strong Ran that he knew. But he was sure that it was her because of the woman and man standing next to her that he recognized as her parents. As he was staring at the sight, he almost ran a red light and quickly changed lanes to drive into the parking lot of the hospital. He was rushing toward the three when a nurse came up to Ran and started to wheel her away.

"Wait, ojisan, what's wrong with Ran?" he yelled, trying to reach them.

Kogoro turned around and his eyes widened as he realized who had called him. "The kid again."

Eri-san said something to her husband that Shinichi couldn't hear, and Kogoro nodded. Shinichi finally caught up to the two, but Ran had already been wheeled back into the hospital.

"What....what happened to her?" He said in short breaths.

Eri-san looked away. Kogoro looked down. Shinichi didn't know what to say. He didn't know Ran's parents that well. They had moved away too quickly for him to get to know them. Just as he thought he should give up asking, Eri-san said softly, "Kogoro, just tell him."

Kogoro sighed. He mentioned to a nearby bench. "Let's sit down."

As the two grief-stricken parents sat down and sighed, Shinichi silently followed suit, afraid to her what had happened to his best friend. Kogoro begin talking about the past and how the family had been separated.

"When Ran was only seven, Eri and I got into this big fight. Eri was really upset, so she stormed out of the house." Kogoro stole a look at his wife, but she showed no emotion. "Then when Ran came home with you, Eri came home and took her away too. At first, I thought it was all for the best since we've been arguing a lot before too. So I decided to forget it and move on. That's why when I moved out of the apartment. Then when Ran was seventeen, Eri had come back to Japan on a business trip, bringing Ran with her, and I coincidentally met up with them. We talked things out, and we decided that it was stupid fight and became friends. Then I saw the sad expression on Ran's face when Eri and her were going to go back to America. I couldn't bear to let my daughter suffer like that."

Eri spoke up. "So I worked it out Kogoro. And then half a year ago, I managed to find a job here and move back with Ran. And the first thing Ran did was go see you." Eri smiled slightly at Shinichi. "I'm not surprised. When I saw the two of you together, I knew you had a special relationship going on." Shinichi fingered the locket he was wearing. "So it was really hard seeing Ran cry about you. You know, she watched every case you solved, cut out every article in the paper about you. She even went through all the old newspapers that Kogoro had to see if you were in any of them."

Shinichi looked surprised. "She....she did?"

Eri nodded. "I didn't notice until 10 years later, and then we happened to meet up with Kogoro. I thought it was about time to come back home. And to complete our family."

Shinichi nodded and Kogoro took over. "But then, when Eri and Ran just moved back, and after Ran went to see you, it was snowing and......."

Shinichi looked up as the man stopped talking and swallowed, _painfully._ "And the other driver couldn't control their car and crashed into Ran's car......."

Shinichi's eyes grew wide. _No way......_ Kogoro continued, quietly. "The other driver died on the spot due to impact, but Ran somehow survived. But she was in a coma for a week, then she woke up for a day, and then slipped back into this vegetative state. That was 5 months ago......and she still hasn't come out of it......the doctors are starting to think it's hopeless."

"NO, never! Ran will come of this vegetative state! I know she will!!" Shinichi stood up, his voice shaking.

"But, Kudo-kun. When she woke up for a day months ago, she couldn't remember anything. She didn't remember us, or who she was," Eri said.

"Did.....did she forget me too?" Shinichi whispered, sitting back down onto the bench.

"We...we don't know."

Shinichi sighed. "Can.....can I go see her?"

Eri looked at Kogoro. Then she nodded. "Room 344. We don't know what to do. Maybe you can get her out of this state......you're the only hope."

Shinichi stood up, and with a quick nod at the parents, headed over to the front door of the hospital.

Eri and Kogoro watched Shinichi disappear into the hospital.

"Do you think he'll help?" Kogoro asked.

Eri sighed. "I don't know. But he might. That's all we can hope for."

Kogoro nodded and put an arm around his wife, who leaned on his shoulder. No one knew how much pain their hearts was bearing just by looking at them.

-in the hospital room-

Shinichi gazed down at Ran, who was sleeping soundly on the white hospital bed. She was very pale, and looked a bit ghostly with her dark chocolate hair. Shinichi stood next her bed, his heart hurting for his best friend. Carefully, he took her hand and squeezed it lightly.

"Ran. It's me."

There was no response.

"I'm so sorry. It was all because you came to see me........that you're like this now."

Shinichi felt his eyes filling up.

"I wish......I wish that......that you'd wake up......not for me, but for your parents. They're really worried. And......when you do.....please......please remember them.....they love you, Ran. I think they've had enough pain in their lives, to last them 10 lifetimes......And all I can do now is pray, but.....maybe you'll hear me. Maybe you can hear right now. So.....if you can, Ran.........please wake up. Please......."

Shinichi kissed her hand lightly and then set it down on the bed lightly. Then he wiped his eyes and turned to leave. Just as his hand closed around the doorknob, he heard a beep. He whipped his head around to see the monitor beside Ran's bed flashing wildly. _What??_ Shinichi bolted out of the room to get a doctor or a nurse.

When the doctor arrived at the room, he was stunned.

"No way.....that's her heart monitor......for a while, it's been decreasing steadily, and now.....it's _increasing_ steadily. That means she might actually get out of this vegetative state!!"

Shinichi blinked. Then he smiled. _Ran, you can do it. Just a bit more._ Just then, Eri and Kogoro burst through the door.

"Is it true?? Her heart rate is returning??"

The doctor nodded, and then suddenly got into a very deep conversation with Kogoro and Eri. Shinichi smiled at Ran one last time before quietly slipping out of the room.

As Shinichi quietly returned home, his heart was filled with many emotions. He felt pain, sadness, anger, guilt and a whole bunch more that he couldn't think of words for. As Shinichi thought over what had happened during the day, he suddenly felt a special pain. It was a different pain. Shinichi felt his heart ache for Ran in a different way, not as a friend but because he loved her. That's why he hadn't felt _complete_ when Ran wasn't with him. So now, even if Ran was never going to wake up, he'd still feel happy just being by her side and watching over her.

Shinichi realized how important Ran was to him now, so he made a vow. No matter what happened, he would protect Ran with all his heart and strength. He didn't know how much that would impact his life and Ran's life until much later........

-to be continued-

_Sorry about the delay. I just got really lazy. And also sorry about the really quick reunion, I just didn't feel like going on for so long......Well, sorry about this chapter too. I'm really not in the mood for writing, but I thought that if I didn't update soon, people would get mad or stop reading my fics, and that isn't what I want. And sorry if you think it's getting kind of sappy.....Okay, enough of my blabbering......I hope you'll review, even if it's only a word, just so I know people actually read it.......Please review!!! Thanks!!!_


	3. Who are you?

**Disclaimer: Nothing from Detective Conan or Magic Kaito belongs to me.**

Masked Memories

_By: mysteriousangelgirl_

Chapter 3: Who are you?

Shinichi visited Ran everyday, and with every passing day, her condition improved. With that, hope of her returning to a normal life increased greatly. Doctors that heard of Shinichi would call him "the miracle detective". Ran wasn't fully out of the vegetative state, but she was able to walk on her own and she even smiled once. Kogoro and Eri were eternally thankful for Shinichi, but Shinichi was still blaming himself, deep down underneath.

One day, after Shinichi had visited Ran again, he sat down on a bench in the Beika Central Park and sighed.

"Man, how I wish I could be a kid again, not having to worry about all this 'adult stuff'......." He put his arms on the back of the bench and slid down into a more comfortable position. Then looked up at the darkening sky and blew out a stream of air. "Wow....it's getting pretty cold....."

"Of course, it's almost going to snow," a voice said, as the person sad down next to Shinichi on the bench. Shinichi turned to look.

"Hattori??"

"What? Not glad to see me?" Heiji teased.

"What are you doing here?"

"Well, just visiting. Kazuha and I just got back from London and our plane comes to the Tokyo Airport. I thought I'd just stop by and saw hi, since we'll be here for another day."

"You went to London??"

"Yeah, why?"

"Oh my gosh! Holmes lived there!!! I've always wanted to go to London!!!" Shinichi cried.

"Haha I see. Well, too bad we didn't get in touch before we went. Where's your girlfriend?"

"My girlfriend?"

"Yeah, don't you have a girlfriend yet? I mean, we're 23!"

"Umm....not really."

"What do you mean 'not really'? I've been married to Kazuha for 3 years now!!!!"

"Well, it's kind of complicated....."

"I'm listening."

"Okay.....well I _did_ like this girl......." Shinichi began to Heiji the story of him and Ran. He told his friend how they were separated, and then once again reunited, but then how the car accident affected their relationship, and how Ran's doing right now. He ended the narrative by saying, "So, as long as she gets better, I'll be happy."

Heiji whistled. "Wow.....that's tough luck." He put a hand on Shinichi's shoulder. "Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

Shinichi sighed. "I didn't anyone else to worry. Partly because it's my fault and I think her parents already have enough on their hands....."

Heiji nodded, looking up at the sky. "Yes I know."

Then Shinichi changed the subject by talking about his recent cases. Pretty soon, he and Heiji and were so deep in the conversation, they didn't see a man wearing all black slip into a dark alley from his spot behind the big oak tree by the park bench that the two detectives were sitting on.

A few days later, Shinichi went back to the hospital after a long day at work. As he opened the door, he was surprised to find Ran awake and sitting up in her bed. Standing by her bed was Kogoro and Eri, who were talking to their daughter. Ran was smiling and when she caught sight of Shinichi, she smiled at him. To Shinichi's eyes, he knew that smile was fake even before he was close enough to make sure.

He greeted Ran's parents politely and then turned to Ran. "Hey, you feeling better?"

Ran blinked. "Umm....yeah sure."

Shinichi frowned. "Ran, what's wrong?"

Ran opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it and looked away.

Eri and Kogoro thought this was weird, but they explained for their daughter. "She came out of the coma thing today, and she's been talking to all her relatives. She must be tired," Eri said, putting a hand on Ran's shoulder.

Shinichi shook his head. "That's not it. I can feel it."

Kogoro grunted.

Ran looked up at Shinichi. She had on a sad expression. "I....I....."

"Hmm?" Shinichi asked, waiting for Ran to say something.

"Who are you?"

-to be continued-

_Okay, a really really short chapter, partly because I just wanted to get the amnesia part over with. Again, I don't think I'm really into writing right now, I'm terribly sorry, but I was only able to sit down and write this because my internet broke down, so all I could was type. I saw a review with 'Case Closed' in it and I was kind of upset, but I guess not everyone knows. I absolutely refuse to call my fic 'case closed' it is ONLY Detective Conan. I will never use that dubbed title, moreover the dubbed names, so please don't ask or use those, okay? It may be kind of harsh to new people, but I'm stubborn with the original series. Again, I'm sorry for the delay and bad writing, but please bear with me. I'm so glad for your reviews!!! They always keep me going and thinking that people actually read my writing. Sorry that I can't personally thank the people who reviewed (my internet's down), but I'm really really thankful for your comments. I may have rushed things a bit, but I haven't had that much experience. I promise that the next chapter will be longer, okay? See you in the next chapter!_


	4. Kidnapped

**Disclaimer: Again, I don't own anything taken from Magic Kaito or Detective Conan.**

Masked Memories

_By: mysteriousangelgirl_

Chapter 4: Kidnapped

---from the previous chapter---

Ran looked up at Shinichi. She had on a sad expression. "I....I....."

"Hmm?" Shinichi asked, waiting for Ran to say something.

"Who are you?"

------end-------

"I....I....you don't remember me?" Shinichi sputtered out.

Ran looked down and shook her head.

Eri and Kogoro gasped.

Shinichi laughed, sarcastically. "I guess I got what I deserved." He turned away from Ran, nodded to her parents, and then walked out of the room. As he closed the door behind him, he knew that one of Ran's parents were bound to come after him, to comfort him. After all, they knew of his feelings for their daughter. To avoid the contact, Shinichi took off running once his hand left the doorknob, and was in his car on his way home in less than one minute.

On his way home, Shinichi tried really hard to not let his emotions show, but his emotion won and tears slid down his face. As he stopped the car in front of his house, he heard the professor next door making some kind of invention again. He decided to visit the professor and Haibara.

He got out of his blue sports car and walked over to the professor's house. He rang the bell and hearing a big clatter and a 'OWW!', he assumed it was okay for him to go in. He let himself through the front door and found the professor tangled up in the cables criss-crossing on the floor. "Oh, hey Shinichi-kun......just let me get out of these wires......."

Shinichi couldn't help laughing at the sight. Then he turned to the right and found a 24 year old Ai on the computer. No big surprise there. She was frowning.

"Hey, what's up, Haibara?"

"Hello, Kudo-kun. You seem to be doing really well on your cases, huh?" she said, taking her eyes off the computer to look at him.

"Yes, thank you." Shinichi settled himself on the professor's sofa and tried to see what Ai was working on. "What's the new project?"

"Nothing much. I'm just trying to assist the professor by doing research for his new invention, however, Hagase tripped over the internet cable on his way to get to the door, and broke off the internet access."

Hagase finally managed to get himself out of the mess and reconnected the internet cable for Ai.

"Well, I'm going to go back to work."

Shinichi nodded, thinking back to when she gave him the antidote to APTX4869.

__

__

__

_"Kudo, get a change of clothes before you take this."_

_"Is it.....?"_

_"Yes, the antidote. We were on the right track all along; I just couldn't figure one of the ingredients." Ai smiled. "Just make sure you don't put too much strain on your body after you returned."_

_"Thanks, Ai. Really."_

_Ai waved her hand. "Nah, no need. I should be thanking you for being with me through this whole thing and not throwing me out for being the one who created it."_

_"Ai, we've been over this a million times!"_

_"Yeah yeah I know."_

_Conan looked at the pill in his palm and then looked at Ai. "Are you going to take it?"_

_Ai stopped shuffling papers and looked at Conan. "Do you want me to?"_

_Conan looked away from her piercing glance and said, "Well, I think you should take it.....because........"_

_"Kudo, you know I don't ever want to me Miyano Shiho again."_

_"Yes yes I know! But you could still be Haibara Ai, I mean, we've been with each other through this whole thing, can't we still be friends?"_

_"Does age make a difference?"_

_"Well, technically it would look kind of weird if I were friends with a elementary school kid, also I think you'd be bored to death."_

_Ai laughed as Conan blinked. "That's true. Don't worry, I was planning on taking it, so I have my own antidote." Ai nodded to the bathroom. "Now go."_

_Conan smiled and then walked off with a set of clothes that belonged to the _real_ him._

Now, Haibara Ai was 24, and teaching as a science teacher at Tokyo University. Hagase had also married his childhood friend, Kinoshita Fusae. Shinichi was glad for her achievements, as she always specialized in science. Then Shinichi snapped back to reality.

"So, Shinichi-kun, having any hard cases lately?" Hagase asked, bringing in a tray of fruits and cups of juice on the coffee table.

"Nah....they're all too simple," Shinichi said, picking up a glass of apple juice and taking a sip.

Hagase smiled. "Of course......you're too smart huh?"

Shinichi smiled. "By the way, where's your wife, Fusae-san?"

"Oh, she went out buy some things to make for dinner."

Shinichi nodded, not paying much attention to what he was saying or doing. He was just hurting inside, hurting because of all people to forget, Ran didn't remember him.

"Shinichi-kun?"

He knew that he couldn't do anything about it, but his promise wouldn't change. His promised to always protect would never change even if Ran was 50 years old.

"Shinichi-kun!"

Suddenly, he snapped out of his thoughts to see the professor holding the phone out to him. "Hmm?"

"I've been calling you for the last 5 minutes......you have a call from the hospital." Hagase handed him the phone and walked off with Shinichi's empty glass.

Shinichi blinked as he took the phone. _The hospital?_

"Hello?"

"Ran's gone! She's gone!" Eri's voice sputtered out.

"What?"

"Kudo-kun, Ran's gone. When I left to go after you when you ran out of the hospital, someone came in the room and knocked my husband out. Then they kidnapped Ran! She wasn't there when I got back, and all I saw was my husband unconscious on the floor."

Shinichi was speechless as the phone slipped out of his hand and landed with a loud clatter on the floor. Ai looked over at him, her hands stopping in mid-sentence.

Eri's voice called from the other side of the phone line. "Kudo-kun? You still there? Hello?"

Shinichi managed to pick up the phone and said, "What should I do?"

"Kudo-kun, I know there was like no trace left, but I think......I think it has to do with that organization you came in contact with, a few years back. You and your detective friends managed to catch the ones in Japan, but I heard from Megure-kun that it's much larger than you thought and it's all over the world.....and the police have checked out the room and they think this wholet thing is targeted at you.....so, please help us get Ran back......" Eri trailed off, sobbing a bit and trying to regain herself.

"Eri-san.....I'm so sorry, this is all my fault. I can't believe I let them get Ran into this. I swear I'll get Ran back for you, and I promise I'll bring those people down this time."

"Kudo-kun, its not your fault, all I was saying, since we have absolutely nothing to off of, just watch yourself and do all you can....."

"I will, and I swear I'll get Ran back." With that Shinichi hung up. Ai was looking at him with a worried look, and Hagase was right behind her.

"Is it.....them?" Ai squeaked out.

Shinichi nodded, but he said, "They're not after you, they're after me, they think I killed you.......in that accident......"

"But all I did was pretend to be dead and get sent to the hospital, you think they would believe that?" Ai's voice had raised almost an octave.

Shinichi looked in Ai's fearful eyes. "Look, I'm serious. I know what they're after, and it's me. Just chill and act normal, and you'll be fine. Besides, you let your hair grow and you wear glasses now. Your hair isn't reddish brown anymore. If they haven't been watching you for years, they would never know who you were." Shinichi got up and left the house without giving either of the two a chance to reply. Shinichi walked through the door of his house just as the phone rang.

He ran to get it, not expecting what was to come.

"Kudo residence."

"We got the girl, you know that don't you?"

"Who the hell are you? And Ran's not your target, let her go!"

The man on the other side laughed. "Let her go? Then how are we going to get to you?"

Shinichi gritted his teeth. "I can do anything you want, just let her go!"

"Humans don't do things without a price, so that won't work."

"What do you want from me?"

"You destroyed a big portion of our organization, what do you think we want?"

"You can't get your people back, they're all dead."

"We don't need people. Our organization just wants revenge."

"Then kill me! It's not going to help by keeping Ran with you, let her go!"

"Killing you alone wouldn't make up for our loss."

"What the hell do you want me to do?"

"We want to see if you can follow directions."

"What?"

"For now, we'll be keeping the girl hostage. You have to do everything we tell you to do, and then you'll get her back safely, if all the tasks are completed."

"No, you can't keep Ran like that. It's not right for her to suffer for me!"

"The girl will be fine. Now you shut the hell up before I kill her."

Shinichi shut up.

"Good. Now I want you to find the guy who used to play as Kid the Phantom thief."

"What?"

"We know you know who he is."

"You're going to kill him."

"Maybe."

"And once I do these things for you, that only I, with the connections, can do, you'll kill me too."

The man laughed. "You could join us."

"Never."

"Alright then, but you just follow my orders and do whatever you're told to do."

The man hung up. Shinichi dropped the phone back onto it's cradle and sat down on the first step of the stairs going up to the second floor.

"I'm sorry Ran, I can't help you right now. But I promise, I'll get you out of there......."

-----somewhere------

In another part of the city, a man dressed in black hung up his cell phone. He looked over at the young girl asleep on the floor. He smirked. Then he left the room, making sure to double lock the window-less room with a 2 inch door of steel.

Ran groaned as she woke up. Her head hurt. She rubbed her forehead and tried to remember where she was. As she looked around, all she saw as brick wall and a steel door. _There's no way I can break through that........And where am I? _Ran tried to remember, but all she could come up with was telling that boy that she didn't remember him and then the next she remembered was falling asleep. _What was that boy's name? Shinichi? _Just thinking of him made her heart hurt. She knew she had hurt him badly when she told him she didn't remember who he was. Just that look of shock and pain in his eyes was enough.

Ran didn't know where she was, why she was here and why she was thinking of the boy named Shinichi. She just sat there, thinking of who he was. She let her eyes close for a bit, and suddenly, a memory flashed through her mind.

She saw a picture of her and the boy named Shinichi betting on candy.......but she didn't know what that meant. She couldn't remember......_If only I could remember who he was......._And with that thought and a long forgotten memory, she fell asleep from lack of food and energy.

The man in black watched the girl fall asleep from the hidden camera in that cell. He smiled. _Sweet dreams, girl._

-to be continued-

_I'm really sorry it took so long. I was on vacation for a week and a half and then I missed the first day of school, so I was trying to catch up. I'm really really sorry. I hope you didn't all abandon me......Well, hope you liked it, and I decided to give this story a bit more than just the romantic part between Shinichi and Ran. Don't worry, everyone's going to show up in this one. Please review!!!!!_


	5. A Rescue Plan

**Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from Detective Conan or Magic Kaito.**

_If you haven't already read in my profile, I'm thinking of doing a CCS fic, so if any of you like that, keep watching, I hope my CCS fic will be much better. I was really ticked off that people with dubbed names get so many reviews. I don't even think of reading a story with dubbed names. I'm sorry, but it really pisses me off to think that they would change the names. Anyways, this update may take a while since I'm going to watch the eighth movie of Detective Conan and I'll probably update during the weekend._

Masked Memories

_By: mysteriousangelgirl_

Chapter 4: A Rescue Plan

Ran was having a hard time sleeping. The floor was hard, the ground was damp and Ran's head was pounding. Finally, after many hours of restless tossing and turning, Ran gave up and sat up. As she took in her surroundings clearly this time, she saw that the room was actually bigger than she first thought. Getting up to stretch her legs, she kept a hand on the wall and felt the damp wall as she circled the room. As she came upon the steel door, she pulled and pushed, proving that the door would not budge at all. Just as she turned around to look for some other way out of the room, the door creaked as it opened. On alert, Ran leaped around in a karate stance.

What she saw first was a gun, so she backed away as the man dressed in black moved into the room.

"I see that you've woke up." He grinned, revealing a row of gleaming white teeth.

"Yeah, no duh." Ran kept her position.

"Touche...." The man laughed.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing. Just that having such a young girl here......because of someone you can't even remember, that's really funny."

"What....what are you talking about?"

"You really don't remember.....the only reason you're here is because....." the man straightened the position of the gun he was holding, "there is a certain somebody that we would like get rid of and currently, the most important person to him is you, and that's the only way to get him to do what we want him to do."

"You're using me to threaten him?" Ran's arms dropped to her sides, and she fell back against the stone wall.

"Don't look so crest-fallen. You don't even remember him."

"But....but that's not right. You can't do this even if I couldn't remember him.....it's not fair for him." Ran looked at the man.

The man only stared back at her with cold eyes. He watched for minute, and Ran tensed, as if the man could see right through her. Then the man walked out of the room, slamming the thick door behind him.

Ran looked wearily at the door. _If only I could remember, then maybe I could think of a way to get out of here......_Ran buried her head in her arms and began to cry. She felt sorry that she was being used to threaten someone. She felt sorry for her parents and causing them to worry. But most of all, she felt sorry that man that she couldn't remember. She knew they had a special connection, but she just couldn't remember.

At the same time, Shinichi was lying on the floor of his house. He had a bump on his head, from where he had knocked himself unconscious yesterday after slamming the phone down and banging his head against the wall about 20 times. As the sun came up, Shinichi stirred, and slowly returned to the world of the alive. He groaned as he tried to focus. He stood up, swaying a bit, and then caught his balance. He wandered to the kitchen for some breakfast. As he was eating breakfast, the thought of what the man had said to him.

_"Good. Now I want you to find the guy who used to play as Kid the Phantom thief."_

_"What?"_

_"We know you know who he is."_

_"You're going to kill him."_

_"Maybe."_

_"And once I do these things for you, that only I, with the connections, can do, you'll kill me too."_

_The man laughed. "You could join us."_

_"Never."_

_"Alright then, but you just follow my orders and do whatever you're told to do."_

Shinichi sighed. _I can't let Ran get hurt, but I can't do this to Kuroba. I've got to find a way to talk to him......_Shinichi shook his head as he quietly finished his breakfast. Grabbing his keys, cell phone and wallet from the drawer of his table, he walked out of his house and out to his sports car. As Shinichi started the car, he looked back at the house next door, Hagase's house. The professor had been a friend to him since he was little and over the years, they became closer friends than even Yusaku and Hagase were. Now, as Shinichi pulled out of the small street, he glanced back at that home right next to his house, the place where, he as Conan had once called home.

Things were going really well for Kuroba Kaito. After marrying Nakamori Aoko and retiring from his job as Kid, the Phantom Thief, he had settled with Aoko in a small apartment at the edge of the city Tokyo. For work, he started a magic show business with Jii and Aoko as his helpers. They were pretty well known around their area and were often asked to come perform. From birthday parties to formal shows, Kaito and Aoko led a fairly happy life.

Today was a magic show day. Kaito was packing the stuff into the back of his car when his cell phone rang. Digging the phone out of his pocket, Kaito answered the call, taking note that the caller was one of his detective friends.

"What's up, Kudo?"

"Kuroba, I need to talk to you."

"What for? I thought everything was going really smoothly.......is-"

"Look, really, it's urgent. Meet me at the restaurant around the block from the train station in three minutes."

And with that, Shinichi hung up. Kaito stared his cell for a moment, taking in the information that his friend had just given him. Noting the urgency in the detective's voice and the sudden end to his call, Kaito assumed it was something important, which might take a while, so he called up Aoko and Jii, who were already at the studio setting up for an early morning performance. After telling them that he wouldn't be able to make it and asking Jii to substitute for him, he hung up and pulled into a parking spot at the back of the restaurant. He locked his doors and walked around to the front of the restaurant. As he entered, he spotted his friend by the counter, talking to the waiter.

"Hey, Ku-" Kaito began, but was cut off as Shinichi silenced him with a shake of his head.

"Hey, Kanato, what's up?" Kaito said, just loud enough for anyone around them to hear.

"Yo," Shinichi nodded at the waiter and the man wandered off to help another customer. Shinichi grabbed Kaito's arm and led him out the back door of the restaurant. Instead of getting in Kaito's blue sports car, Shinichi pointed to the red sports car that he drove. As Kaito and Shinichi got in, Kaito noticed that there was a bug on Shinichi's rearview mirror. As he pointed it out to Shinichi, he flicked it off the mirror. Shinichi sighed as he started the car.

"Look, they're still alive."

"What?"

"Make your voice different, I don't know how many bugs there are in this car."

"Oh, are you being stalked, or watched?" Kaito answered, changing his voice so that no one could tell it was him.

"Not exactly.....they got someone hostage so I have to either turn Kid in, or watch the girl I love die....."

Kaito's eyes grew big.

"Holy shit."

"Yeah, but I can't do this......" Shinichi turned a sharp corner, throwing Kaito against the window.

"Kudo, this......we can pull if off. We did before, we can do it again."

"Not while I'm being watched."

"What do they want you do?"

"They're still after the Kid."

"I thought he retired," Kaito said, using a different way of saying it to prevent anyone listening from understanding.

"Yeah well, they know he's still out there _somewhere_......"

Kaito sighed. He swore under his breath. Then he looked at Shinichi. "I could go save the girl first."

"That would be suicide."

"Wouldn't you do the same?"

"They're going to kill her whether I go for her or not. They're no way I can make it out without dying."

"Kudo, you-"

"Look, man, I can't do anything anymore. They must have tightened everything up after that failure in Japan. I can't do this. And I don't know what you could do either......"

"Have you talked to.......H?" Kaito purposely left out Hattori's name to prevent any important info from leaking out. To anyone listening, Kaito and H would only be friends of Kudo Shinichi, not the other famous detective, Hattori Heiji and the retired Kid, Kuroba Kaito.

"No.....I'm planning on calling him right now."

"I'll do it."

"Where should I go?"

"Uhhh.....to the place." Kaito replied, punching in some numbers.

Shinichi nodded as he made a u-turn and almost crashed into a telephone pole, but managed to get out of the way. As Shinichi floored the accelerator, Heiji picked up and Kaito managed to warn him of everything all within in one breath. Heiji understood that he's now 'H' and Kaito was now 'hey you'.

As Kaito and Heiji arranged a meeting spot at their 'place', Shinichi was lost in his own thoughts. Shinichi felt guilty. He felt sad. He felt almost every emotion except happiness. Just then, Kaito hung up, telling Shinichi that 'H' would be at the spot in about five minutes. With this, Shinichi snapped out of his swirl of thoughts and turned off the freeway.

The boy's place was just a hidden part of the park that they had made their safe meeting spot. Unless you knew where it was exactly, you wouldn't be able to find among the bushes. Shinichi and Kaito made their way silently into the bushes. Heiji was waiting there with his helmet in his left hand. He waved as Shinichi and Kaito approached with low faces. Heiji didn't seem any happier. Kaito had managed to fill him in on the details while they were driving.

"Umm, Ku........Kanato, you okay?" Heiji asked in a low whisper.

"H, I'm fine.......well, actually maybe not....."

"Hey," Heiji said, pulling on Kaito's sleeve, "think of something....."

"I do have something. I just don't know if it'll work. Besides, it'll involve the girls.....but I'm not sure they'll want to be a part of this....." Kaito frowned. "But it may be the only way."

"The girls should be fine. If they knew what was up for risk, they would say yes without hesitation." Heiji nodded, as Shinichi eyed him. "Ku.....man, I'm serious."

Shinichi just sighed. "There's no time left. Spill it, man."

As Kaito explained his story, he saw both Heiji and Shinichi raise their eyebrows. That was risky plan, but it might just do the job. Besides, they didn't have any time to decide yes or no. They just had to wish for the best of luck.

The three boys separated after the discussion of the where and when and bits of the details. Shinichi sent Kaito back to the restaurant where his car was parked and promised to keep in touch with them all.

As Shinichi walked up to his house, he suddenly felt very hopeful. _Maybe we could outwit them again......since we were able to come up with a plan last time, maybe, just maybe, with a bit more to the plan now, we'll actually get it work........_

Shinichi smiled as he locked his front door. _So this is was hope feels like.....Usually I'm so confident on my cases, I don't need hope after failure....._Shinichi sighed as he checked to make sure his house was free of bugs or traps of whatever.....and then he hobbled upstairs for bed. He ignored all the messages on his phone, knowing they would all be cases or fans, and just as Shinichi was falling asleep, his cell phone, which he had placed on the table beside the bed, rang.

Shinichi groaned as he picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Do you have the Kid yet?"

Shinichi sat up, wide awake now. _Shit, how did they get my cell number?_

"I take your silence as a no."

Shinichi grit his teeth.

"You better not make us wait."

Shinichi picked his phone extension and dialed Heiji's number.

"We don't like to wait for people, you know."

Shinichi prayed that Heiji would pick up.

"It makes us mad."

Shinichi smiled as Heiji picked up with a low growl.

Shinichi cleared his throat. "You that these things take time.....I can't just go get the Kid and come back. It's been years and I can't just find him out of no where."

"You have your connections. Do your work."

On the other line, he heard Heiji draw a small, sharp breath.

"Connections don't get us everything...."

The man laughed. "Are you trying to ask for time?"

Shinichi could hear Heiji busily working on the computer. _Probably trying to help me trace the location of the caller........Hattori can do a ton of things with his police connections..._

"Maybe. Just don't call me okay? They might get suspicious if you call me."

The man laughed again. "You are like us.....

Shinichi frowned.

The man seemed to sense this. "Just find the Kid."

"Don't touch Ran."

Shinichi swore he could 'hear' the smirk. "She's in perfect condition, I promised you."

Shinichi was about to say, _Like your promises ever mean anything,_ but the man just said, "Get it done," and hung up.

Heiji coughed as Shinichi closed his cell phone and set it back on the table.

"You can talk now, Hattori. Did you get anything?"

"I managed to get it half way traced. All I know is that it was from a cell phone and it's around the train station somewhere. Even so, we can't be sure that's where they're keeping your girl.....so......" Heiji typed away on his computer.

"Hattori, thanks, guess I should have tried tracing earlier...."

"Hey everyone panics," Heiji scrolled down the page. "Hey, I got something!"

"What? Really?"

"The cell phone itself expired about two months ago, so I don't how he was using it.......anyways, we'll get some sleep for the rescue tomorrow, okay?"

Shinichi agreed and the two detective friends hung up for some rest.

Morning soon arrived.

-to be continued-

_School's been hard lately and I've kind of upset and ticked off about all the 'case closed' things..........Well, I updated my profile, but besides that, there's not much to say.....Hope you enjoy, and please review!_


	6. Face to Face

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything. **

_Okay, so I haven't done personal thank yous for the reviews, so here goes....._

**_Mika:_**_ Thanks....I agree with the new dubbing, so I tend to stay away from it all, but I guess if they¡re willing to give reviews, then it's okay....I mean, that's what I like, ne?_

**_Seraphic dragon:_**_ Thanks. I'm really glad for your support! Thanks for the dubbing names comparison. That way I don't have to type it up all myself. By the way, I saw the review when you were a bit confused. If you haven't already, I put up a note in my profile explaining the story a bit more, hope it helps. It would have all shown up in the summary, but they have a stupid limit on the number of characters...._

**_Ke:_******_ Well, the relationship part, I just wanted to get past that. Sorry if I kind of rushed it. Thanks anyways!_

**_Darkwolf707: _**_I know you.....that's it? You could at LEAST leave a word or something....jk jk cousin-_

**_Khaos-sama:_******_ Thanks, but I would prefer if you use 'Detective Conan¡ instead of Case Closed. I'm not that big on the dubbing...._

**_Coolio:_******_ There's more!! Please review again!!_

**_Animemangafreak: _**_Sorry for rushing, like I said, I kind of just wanted to get over that part....and I don't really know about all that medical stuff, so please don't blame me! I updated, please review!!!_

**_Conanfreak_******_ Thanks, I love all the support!_

**_Pyrokid_******_ I know about our mismatch of the pairing, but I'm still glad you review. Dubbing's not the best, but I think I'll live until Aoyama-sama decides to kill them all off or let live forever....._

**_Don Frank Castello:_**_ Thanks for the review. Hope you review again!_

**_Ember Mage: _**_Thanks, I love it when people say that they read my stories. Not many do....Arigato gozaimasu. Cliché, but oh well, I like it! Thanks for your support all the way until now!_

**_Bethany-chan:_**_ Thanks for your review. I get what you're saying about the Case Closed thing, and through the email....And I'll really hope if you'll continue to read my stories......Ja_

_Arigato to all of the reviewers! Thanks so much for your support! Now, on with the story!!_

Masked Memories

_By: mysteriousangelgirl_

Chapter 6: Face to Face

Shinichi, Heiji, Kazuha, Kaito, Aoko, and Jii-san were all ready to go by 10 in morning. Shinichi found them all waiting outside his door at about nine. As he was getting ready, the others made themselves at home in his living room. Shinichi came down the stairs, dressed in a blue pants and a blue t-shirt. Jii-san looked very serious in his grey suit, and he turned to look at Shinichi even before Shinichi got half way down the stairs.

Everyone was quiet. They all knew that this was their only chance. If they screwed up, they would all end up dead, or the girl they were rescuing would die. Either way, they had to do it right on the first time. But even as there was chance of turning back and not getting involved, no one raised a hand to leave. As Shinichi looked from Heiji¡s determined face to Kazuha's equally determined face, he knew that his detective friend and his wife were sure to stay through the whole thing. Shinichi then looked over at Kaito, Jii and Aoko, and found them all smiling, as if Kaito Kid was yet again on another heist. Shinichi smiled and cleared his throat.

"First of all, I'd like to thank you all for helping me. I don¡t know what I would have done without all of you."

Everyone smiled.

"Second, this is going to be dangerous and we¡re risking everything we have. If you don't want to risk your life, then you can-"

"Kudo, we've been over this. No one's leaving," Kaito put in without hesitation.

"Yeah, Kudo. We're trying to do some good, and if it helps you, two in one!" Kazuha said, punching a fist into the air.

"Kudo-san. Everything that we've been through has been dangerous. This wouldn't be of any different. We all know the situation of dear Mouri-san and we're going to get her back, for the sake of her parents, you and all of us. Though I have not personally met Mouri-san, I would believe that you would do all that you could to get her back, and we, as your loyal companions and friends, would do all the same. We trust you would return the favor if the situation was reversed." Jii spoke like a father. And he almost was one, to Kaito.

Shinichi was surprised at Jii's words, but he smiled. "Of course.....Okay, alright. Let's getting going now."

Everyone piled out of the house, and got into Aoko's blue minivan. Once they were on the road, the boys changed clothes and put on makeup to disguise themselves. Heiji was now Shinichi and Shinchi was now Kaito. Kaito dressed in the Kid's famous white suit and Jii-san dressed as Heiji. (1) The girls didn't do a switch, and sat up in the front, watching the road.

As Heiji (Jii) leaned forward and said, "Watch out behind," a loud crash came from behind the van. Turning, everyone saw that the car behind them had crashed into them. The glass of the broken window was all over the trunk. Shinichi (Heiji) managed to make out a gun from behind and yelled, "Floor it and duck!" Five heads ducked, as Aoko floored the accelerater and the van shot forward.

Shinichi (Heiji) looked through the broken glass, saw the car trying to catch up, and said, "Aoko, try to lose them. We need time to get to the warehouse."

Aoko nodded. "I'll try."

Kaito (Shinichi) was surprised at how fast and good Aoko was at driving. He smiled and elbowed Kid. "Didn't know your girl was a car racer."

Kid snorted. "Practicing car getaways is never a bad thing."

Heiji (Jii) told Aoko that the car was right behind them, and just as they were about to pass an exit on the highway, Aoko yanked the wheel to the right and the car skidded, turning off the highway, and leaving the speeding car behind on the highway. Aoko maneuvered her way through city traffic, she finally pulled up in front of an empty warehouse. Even before the car came close to a stop, Kaito (Shinichi) had the door open and all four boys were on the pavement before the car stopped. Aoko paused only long enough for Kazuha to throw the boys each a backpack and slam the door. Aoko zoomed away, turning on the wireless phone in her ear, covered by her hair. Kauzha did the same, taking out her ponytail and letting her hair cover the trace of any communication with the boys.

Shinichi, Heiji, Kaito and Jii all turned on their extension of the walkie-talkie, which was hidden under their wigs, while running across the street to the warehouse. As Kaito (Shinichi) picked the lock to the door, Heiji (Jii) pulled out a set of gloves from his backpack and put them on. Kid just held his backpack, his cape flowing behind him. Shinichi (Heiji) put his backpack on and coughed, making sure the voice changer in his set of gloves worked. He sounded just like Shinichi. Kaito (Shinichi) swung open the door to the warehouse and just as the four of them walked in, Kid disappeared, and the door slammed shut. Shinichi, Heiji and Kaito were looking confused when all the lights of the warehouse came on. Shielding their eyes from the sudden light, a voice laughed loudly.

"It took you quite a while to follow rules, huh, Kudo-kun?" the man dressed in black with dark sunglasses said, looking down at them from where stood on the second story loft.

Shinichi (Heiji) smiled. "At least I got here."

The man frowned. "We told you to come alone."

Shinichi (Heiji) smirked. "Too late now."

The man narrowed his eyes. ¡Where¡s the KID?"

Jii (Heiji) said with a perfect Osakan accent, "That's not important now, where is the girl?"

The man smiled. "She's not here."

Shinichi narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?"

"I told you, the girl is not here."

Kaito (Shinichi) frowned. _What are they planning?_

"What is going on?" Heiji said.

As Heiji looked ready to breath fire, other agents of B.O. came out of almost no where, but there were really just hiding in the shadows.

The three boys looked around them as they realized they were surrounded.

Edging closer to the boys, the agents all held out a gun. The man, assuming it was their boss, on the second story loft laughed. "You detectives aren't enough to outsmart us a second time."

All heads snapped up to him and he continued, "After that failure here in Japan, I looked up all three of you, and it wasn't that hard to find information on your IQ and all, being so famous and all, I just had to disguise myself as one you and ask for some info regarding your current residence, phone number and all......"

Kaito (Shinichi) narrowed his eyes. _He's lying....._

Then he smiled as he saw a slight movement behind the boss. Just as the boss was about to open his mouth to say something, Kaito (Shinichi) said, "Where _is_ the girl? All we came for is the girl, not some lecture for a stupid B.O. operator."

The boss was obviously mad at the remark and Kaito¡s grin, but he said, "We wanted the Kid in exchange. I don't see him here."

"He doesn't just come by walking in. He has his own ways of showing up, you'll see him soon." Shinichi (Heiji) answered.

The boss narrowed his eyes and was just about to say something when a big poof of smoke clouded his vision and Kaito Kid was standing in 10 feet in front of him, out on the open space above where Shinich, Heiji and Kaito were standing.

"Ladies and Gentleman, sorry for my delayed arrival, but I am here now to entertain you." Kid tipped a hat toward the boss and went on to perform some disappearing tricks while he continued to speak, "Now that I have arrived, may you tell those people down there, the whereabouts of the girl you are keeping hostage?"

The boss laughed. "Like hell."

Kid wasn't a bit discouraged. "Oh really?"

The boss smirked. "Make me."

Kid's grin grew even bigger. "How are you against sleeping gas or flash bombs?" He held up some eggs and some batteries.

The boss's eyes grew wide. "Sure, then you'll never get the girl."

"I already know where the girl is, she's in the warehouse down the street, in a windowless room in the back. I checked it out already."

The boss was obviously taken back by the answer.

"How..ho...how did you find that place?"

"Tsk tsk," Kid said, shaking a figure, "a magician NEVER reveals his secrets."

The boss looked like he was going to surrender, but then yelled "fire" and all the agents on the floor were just about to fire when Kid _accidentally_ dropped his sleeping gas eggs.

Yelling a loud, "Oops!", the three surrounded boys took the cue and tied a cloth over their noses and mouths. They all ran up the stairs, while the boss was leaning over the edge, wondering where the boys had gone.

Kaito (Shinichi) with a roundhouse kick, managed to knock the boss pretty bad and had his foot against the man's chest. "Tell me where the girl is."

The boss looked pained. "I can't."

"Then we'll follow the Kid's directions to the other warehouse, and drag you along." Kaito (Shinichi) nodded over to the Kid, who had walked over and was standing on the railing.

The boss whimpered. "All I know is that they moved her somewhere else. I don't know anything else. Even if you killed me, I still wouldn¡t say anything more....."

Kid narrowed his eyes. _I thought this was a bit too easy...._

Heiji and Shinichi stood there, absorbing the new information they had just heard. Kaito (Shinichi) loosened his foot against the man, but then pushed forward again. "You lied!"

The man burst out laughing. "Yes, I did. You caught that?"

Kid tilted his head toward Kaito (Shinichi).

Kaito (Shinichi) snorted. "You said 'I still wouldn't _say_ anything more" and that tells me that you know more than you care to let on."

As a chorus of "oh's" ran through the three boys' minds, Kaito (Shinichi) followed up with a sudden punch to the man's face. As he suspected, part of the mask the boss was wearing ripped due to the sudden blow. As Kaito (Shinchi) ripped off the rest of the mask, he almost fell backwards when he saw who it was.

"CHRIS VINEYARD?" Shinichi (Heiji) yelled? "But how the hell did she come back to life?"

Kid smiled. "The only possible reason would be that she never suicided."

"Of course not. I knew it would be her or someone related to her. Maybe another 'daughter' of hers....." Kaito (Shinichi) smirked.

Chris smiled, whipping a trail of blood by her mouth with the back of her hand. Kaito (Shinichi) had put his foot back down and the two were standing face to face.

Shinichi reached up and ripped off the Kaito mask he had been wearing, revealing the face that Chris had been faced with a few years back. Shinichi tapped the receiver in his ear and smiled. "What are you going to pull this time, Vineyard?"

Chris was smirking. "So we finally meet face to face, huh?"

Shinichi stopped smiling.

"I see you're unhappy about that?"

"We've met before, Vineyard. Quit the bullshit and get it over with."

"We _have_ met before, but not with you as Kudo Shinichi and me as Chris Vineyard....."

"You were Chris Vineyard when you shot Jodie-sensei."

"Oh, yes, but you were Edgoawa-kun! How kawai!!"

Shinichi snorted. "Now, since you seem to be the boss of the remain parts of the B.O., would you mind telling me where Ran is?"

"Oh Mouri-san! Don't worry, she's in perfect condition. Maybe wanting a bath.....but not much worse than that." Chris found this funny and burst out laughing.

"Where the hell is she?"

"Oh, cool guy, no need to get upset.....I was merely-"

"Just shut up and tell me where she is."

Chris wiped off her grin, and narrowed her eyes. "What's gotten into you? I like being humorous, and I don't like others butting in on that....."

"I just want to get out of here and never see your damn face again."

Chris smiled again. "Well, how about a deal, I'll let you know where she is, and it'll be up to you to get there and get her out in within the time goes off."

"There's a what?" Heiji said, having ripped of his Shinichi mask.

"A bomb. Yes, and it can't be defused or carried away. So, a deal. If you win, it'll destroy all the agents that are left here, including the ones Kid gassed down there, and I'll disappear forever."

"How would we know you're keeping your word?" Jii said, pulling off the Heiji's mask.

"Ahhh, Kid's assistant, ehh?"

"Answer him, Vineyard." Shinichi warned.

"Oh alright. You can trust me can't you?" She said with a smile.

The boys and Jii had one a look of disbelief, so she said, "Okay okay, I can promise you, alright? If I don't, you'll have this." She held out a cell phone. "It'll track down the phone number of my hideout. I can't leave the country without going there for like a disguise or something. So, you'll be able to surround me there, okay??"

Shinichi's eyebrow as twitching but he took the phone and slid it into his pants pocket. "Where is she?"

Chris smiled. "You have half an hour to get to the basement of the Tokyo Police Department. The bomb goes off at exactly 12 noon."

Shinichi swore and started running down the stairs of the loft, talking into the transmitter in his pocket, asking that Aoko and Kazuha get back to the warehouse in 2 minutes. Just all four of the men were outside, Aoko's van pulled up and without stopping, all four of them were in the car, changing clothes and giving directions to the police department.

Shinichi glanced at his watch just as they pulled up in front of the police department and ran out. It was 11:45. The police department was one of the biggest ones in Japan. Would they find Ran in time?

-to be continued-

(1) The names in the (...) are the names of the real person.

_Hey, sorry for the long wait. I hope you all enjoyed the story so far. I'm pretty sure now that I'll be doing a CCS fanfic after I finish this. I think this will only be three more chapters....or maybe two. I'm not sure, but it's coming to an end. Please support me and review! Thanks you guys! I'll see you in the next chapter!!_


	7. Memories

**Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me. Wish it did though. **

Masked Memories

_By: mysteriousangelgirl_

Chapter 7: Memories

Ran was worried. She had overheard some men outside her door talking about a bomb, and then they laughed loudly. Ran scrunched herself up in a corner of the dark room as tears began to form in her eyes. A picture of a small boy holding an umbrella out to her flashed through her mind. Ran stopped crying and blinked. _Who is this??_ Though Ran could not recall who this boy was, the smile on the boy's face had given her courage. _I must get out of here! _Ran struggled to stand up. Once she was stable on her feet, she felt along the wall until she felt the outline of the wooden door.

Ran smirked. _Wooden door? You think a wooden door can keep me in forever?_ Ran backed up a few steps, and then slammed her right fist into the wall. Pain shot through Ran's knuckles up to her arm, but Ran ignored it. Smiling at the splintered wood, Ran backed up again and kicked the door with a roundhouse kick. The door was now dented in the middle. With a final kick, Ran kicked open the door.

Keeping her back to the cool stone wall, Ran made her way out of the room that had kept her prisoner and walked silently down the hall until she reached a set of stairs. Above her head she heard a lot of feet moving and other noises that told her there was someone else there besides her. Just as Ran was about to climb the stairs, a thought reached her brain. _What if those people were the people who kidnapped her?_ Ran shrunk back from the stairs, backed up against the stone wall, sweating in fear.

Another picture flashed through her mind. It was the same little boy congratulating a 6 year old Ran about beating up the bully who had had hurt their classmate. Ran stopped trembling and stood up straight. _I know karate now. What do I have to fear? _Ran began her ascent up the stairs. In a corner of her mind, something whispered, "_Guns..._" But Ran pushed the thought aside.

As Ran reached the top of the stairs, there was a single door slightly open. Ran pushed the door open a bit more. She saw nothing but another staircase leading upward. As Ran slid through the crack between the door and its frame, another memory hit her. That small boy was leading her through this very spot. Ran thought hard and heard some dialogue...

_"Ran, here, come on, we have to get out or someone will find us!" the boy pulled on her hand._

_Ran scrambled to keep up with the boy's pace. "Alright alright. Why do you bring me here in the first place?"_

_The boy continued to pull her up the stairs. "I just wanted to show you where my dad works...."_

_"You're dad works in the police department, stupid." Ran stopped at the top of the stairs to catch her breath and then continued up the second stairway._

_"This is the police department. This is the basement, where they keep the old files. Too bad they don't lock these doors."_

Ran's heart beat faster. _I'm in the basement of the police department._ Ran sighed and started to climb up the second set of stairs. _At least I know where I am. As long as I don't encounter anyone, then I should be fine...._

Just as Ran reached the top of the stairway, the door to that opened to the basement burst open. Ran gasped and almost fell down the stairs.

A man stood there. He was breathing hard, his black short hair was wet with sweat and he was squinting to see Ran.

"Ran?? Ran!!" The man realized who Ran was and ran over, embracing her in his arms tightly. "Oh my gosh, thank goodness you're alright!"

The man let her go and Ran finally got a good look at his face. Suddenly a whole bunch of memories hit her.

Ran saw this boy giving her chocolate he had gotten from his mom. She saw themselves eating lunch together, telling each other secrets, chasing each other around, talking during class and getting detention together, going to watch karate tournaments together, and just being the best of friends. Tears were running down her face now as the name of the person she loved the most finally hit her.

"Shinichi...."

The man's eyes widened. "Ran! You....you remember...me?"

Ran looked up at him. "I love you, baka, how can I not remember you??" She threw herself back into his arms.

Shinichi clutched Ran to him tightly and together they walked out of the dark hallway of the police department. Suddenly Shinichi jerked from her grasp and turned to face her. "What....what did you do with the bomb?"

Ran blinked. "What bomb?"

"There wasn't a bomb?"

"No, I don't think so. I'm in one piece, aren't I?" She smiled.

Shinichi frowned. "That damn Vermouth!" He took out that cell phone she had given him and turned it on, true to his discovery, the cell phone didn't even work. He threw it across the brightly lit room and it dropped into the trashcan. "She only gave me that to get me off her trail. Bet she's gone by now." He turned back to Ran and then said, "Hang on a sec."

Shinichi tapped the receiver in his ear and spoke softly into the mouthpiece he had pulled down from the earpiece. "Hey guys, I found her."

A huge "WHATTTT???" exploded from the earpiece that even Ran heard it. Shinichi winced in pain as he pulled his earpiece a bit away from his ear. "What about the bomb??" a voice said.

"There wasn't one. Vermouth did that get us off her trail."

"Thought so," an older man said. "That's why I got some people detectives mixed into her people. She'll be tracked down eventually. No worries."

"You're awesome, Jii-san. Thanks. So...."

The sound of the mouthpiece being yanked away from the current speaker could be heard and a loud voice said, "Kudo, where the hell are you right now??"

Shinichi laughed. "I'll meet you guys in front of the building in 10 minutes. I'll be stopping by Megure's desk before I meet you guys."

Shinichi took Ran by the shoulders and walked with her out to civilization. Winding his way along a whole bunch of police officers that nodded at him, and long hallways, Shinichi stopped in front of a room. He knocked lightly and the door was yanked open. A cranky said, "What again....Kudo!" His eyes traveled to Ran. "Holy! Where'd you find her? You okay there, Mouri-san?"

Ran nodded and Shinichi said, "I just wanted to let you know she's safe and fine. Ran's a bit tired so is it okay if we come in for the statement tomorrow morning?"

Megure nodded and said, "You kids get some sleep. You look horrible...." Megure winked at Shinichi as he closed the door to his office.

Shinichi and Ran continued their journey out of the Tokyo Police Department and finally reached the front door. Kazuha was already running through the automatic doors and came barreling at Ran. She smacked into Ran and threw her arms around her. Shinichi took a step back to keep out of the girls' reunion. Kazuha was crying and saying, "Ran!! I'm so glad you're alright..."

Aoko came running in next. She joined in the girls' group hug, while Heiji, Kaito and Jii-san came to stand next to Shinichi's side.

"So....neesan's got her memory back?" Heiji asked, smiling at Shinichi.

Shinichi smiled back. "Yeah. Don't know how she got it back, but I'm just glad she got it back."

"We called her parents. They're on their way here," Kaito brought up.

Just as Shinichi was going to reply, Eri and Kogoro burst through the front door and screamed their daughter's name.

"RANNN!!!!"

As everyone was crying, talking, yelling, screaming, and making a whole bunch of noise about Ran, Shinichi and his friends were still plotting some way to get back with Vermouth.

-another part of the city-

"I hate it when people ruin my plans!" a young blond woman was screaming. She slammed the table with her fist and knocked the coffee cup over. In frustration, she threw the coffee cup at the wall. It shattered into small pieces, bringing in a man dressed in black.

"Uhh, Vermouth?"

"Shut up."

"Uhh...miss?"

"Shut UP."

"But, miss...."

"Just clean it up!"

The gulped and did as he was told. Then he scurried out of the room.

Vermouth sighed and sat down. _Maybe I should go on a vacation...._Vermouth got up from the table and stood there. Then she sat down and said, "Get me my cell phone!!!"

The small man came scurrying back in with Vermouth's cell phone held out in front of him as if it were gold.

She snatched it from him and shooed him out once more. Dialing a very familiar number she smiled and said, "Hello again."

-to be continued-

_So WHO is Vermouth calling? Her boss? Shinichi? D Wait and find out!!! Thanks for everyone's who's reviewed and special thanks to **Lady Bethany**!! I hope you'll all enjoy and I think I'll be wrapping this up soon. Please review and I'll see you all in the next chapter!!!_


	8. The Final Match

**Disclaimer: Once again, I am sad to say that nothing but the story belongs to me...**

Masked Memories

_By: t0ky0-chan_

Chapter 8: The Final Match

"Hello again," Vermouth said into her cell phone.

"What do you want?" the person on the other line growled.

"Now, now, no need to get so worked up."

"Shut up and tell me why you want to call me at three in the morning!"

"Okay, okay. It's just that I'm a bit tired of all this running, chasing and escaping thing...."

There was silence on the other line. "Go on."

Vermouth chuckled. "You are interested in my arrest, aren't you?"

"Not as much as someone else is..." Shinichi yawned.

"So I think we should have a full on match. Not physical, but with the brain. I want to see how tough and smart you really are."

"Doesn't that also work in your favor?"

"Not quite. This time, it's you versus me, Cool Guy. None of my friends and none of yours. Whoever wins either kills the other or turns them in."

"Isn't that kind of dramatic?"

"No. I'm tired of listening to orders and all this business. If I go to jail, I'll wait it out and start over."

"And since when did you become so....righteous?"

Vermouth laughed. "I don't plan on using ATPX4869, even in its future state, to live forever. You would know, wouldn't you?"

"You mean, watching others grow older and you just moving against the stream of time?"

"Exactly. We are..." she began.

"The devil. You move against the stream of time, bringing alive dead souls," Shinichi finished. "You said that to that computer engineer guy, who was killed."

"Right. You do have good memory."

"Can I go to sleep now?"

"Not yet. We haven't outlined our match yet."

"What if I decline?"

"You won't. This is your chance."

".........."

"So. Here goes....."

-----------------------------------------------------------------

The following week, Shinichi didn't tell anyone of his plan to go out and face Vermouth alone. He knew he may not come back alive, but this was his last chance to put her behind bars, where she belonged.

As Shinichi was walking home from work, he was thinking about Vermouth so hard, he almost walked right past his house. As he turned back to his house, he saw someone leaning against the brick gate of his house.

"Hello, Kudo."

"Kuroba."

The boys stood face to face, the same lopsided grin on their faces, almost exactly mirror images of each other.

"What brings you here?"

"Dropping in to talk to you."

"About what?"

"About tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?"

"Don't act innocent. You're going out alone aren't you?"

Shinichi blinked, his hand froze just above the latch of the gate into his house. "What?"

Kaito smiled. "Hey, I know lots of things. I won't stop you on this, but if you don't come back alive, or at least in living shape, I will and I repeat, I will kill that woman."

"Kuroba, listen, you don't have to avenge me, you-"

Kaito cut Shinichi of with a wave of his hand. "No. It's not just for you. It's for my father, my mother, Mouri-san, that little girl at Hagase's, and anyone else whose life has been destroyed because of her."

Shinichi was silent as his front gate creaked open. He sighed. "This is my last chance, Kuroba; you know what I have to do."

"I know, Kudo, which is why I'm not stopping you, but for everyone who loves you and care about you, just come back alive. That includes me." Kaito looked at Shinichi. The blue eyes stared right into each other. It was Kaito who finally broke the moment. "Take care. I'll be rooting for you," he said with a wave and then disappeared around the corner.

Shinichi stared after Kaito's retreating figure until the last shadows of Kaito disappeared around the corner of the street. "I wish myself luck too, Kuroba."

And with that, he shut the creaky gate and walked up to the front door, unlocked it and let himself into the warmth of his home.

----Late that night-----

The doorbell echoed in the Kudo house. Shinichi struggled to get out of bed and down the stairs in one piece. Rubbing his eye with one hand, he opened the door. There wasn't anyone there for him to yell at, but on the porch steps lay a single piece of paper. Shinichi suddenly became wide awake. Glancing around the dark yard for the glimpse of any life, he picked up the sheet of paper and shut the door. Squinting in the dim hall light, he read the riddle on the sheet out loud.

"By day I roam, by night I prowl, by daylight I kill, and by moonlight I chuckle, find me where I hide in the night's darkest hours."

Shinichi wrinkled his nose. "She didn't tell me where she was. She just told me she knows where I live and she's beginning the match...." As Shinichi pondered a hidden meaning in the short poem, there was knock on the door and Shinichi whirled around. He threw open the door, but all that was there was another piece of paper. Again Shinichi looked out into his yard, but there was no one there. Shinichi picked up the sheet of paper and shut the door again.

"Combat and brains don't go together, but for a detective, it's the most useful tool. I am here, waiting for you, at the smallest but biggest park in the country."

Shinichi put his fingers to his chin and thought. "The smallest but biggest park in the country? The country?? Japan's pretty big, I hope she's not going to make me run all over the country!" As Shinichi pondered the clue, he mind kept slipping back to Beika Central Park. "No, no it's not that one.....Beika Central's too small......."

Shinichi leaned against the door. "Does it have to be a park? No, I guess not....what represents a park? Or looks like one.......Ahhhhh! Why do I keep thinking of Beika Central Park???"

Shinichi's eye widened. "That's it! Beika Central Park is the smallest park in size, but it's always said to be the 'biggest' because of all the people and attractions!" Shinichi threw open the door and was off to the park in seconds.

Upon reaching the park, Shinichi glanced around for any sign of movement, but there was none. Shinichi turned around and spotted and piece of white paper on the park bench. Cautiously, Shinichi approached the bench. He grabbed the paper, looking for booby traps that Vermouth may have set. There wasn't any.

Shinichi unfolded the sheet of paper. Written in bold, uppercase letters, was the word, "Home."

"Home. Does she mean her home? Has she been home all this time?" Shinichi began walking out of the park, then he stopped. "I don't know where she lives." Shinichi flipped over the paper in hand, looking for any clues to lead him to her, but there wasn't any sign of a clue, not even a smudge on the paper. Then Shinichi saw something he would never have noticed if hadn't been looking for it. There was something underneath the letters of 'Home'.

"Dang, I'll need a magnifying glass!" Shinichi turned and ran down the street, past Ran's house, past the professor's house and into his own house. Closing the front door behind himself, he was startled when he found someone in his living room.

"It took you quite a while to get back."

"What....what are you doing here??" Shinichi dropped the paper he was holding in surprise.

"Well, it does say 'home', doesn't it? And I even drew a line of scribbles lightly under the letters so you'd come home for a magnifying glass in case you didn't realize that Home meant your home," the blonde woman replied, standing up from the couch she had been sitting on.

"But why? Why are you giving yourself up like this?"

"Look, I said I would give up Sherry and I did. After that incident, we've still been playing 'catch me if you can' for 3 years. I've had enough of it. And I just want to live as a normal person. You..."

"No, you're lying. You would never give yourself up like this. You have pride, and if you really wanted to, you would have just vanished as Chris Vineyard and picked up a new identity, and lived the rest of your life as someone else. You don't need anyone to do that. What are you really planning?"

"Look, listen to me, Cool Guy, will you?" Chris rubbed her temples. "You might want to turn off a few lights, it's pretty late and I don't want the neighbors to hear us arguing."

Shinichi glared at her, but obediently turned off the porch light, the hall light and all the other lights except the one that lit the living room, then returned to his spot by the hallway.

"Good. Now, would you like to sit or stand for the rest of my explanation?"

Shinichi remained standing.

"Alright, I guess not." Chris smiled. "You still think I'm going to rush at you with a knife or something right? Fine..... just don't glare so hard...." Chris sighed. "I'm not as hard-core as you and Sherry think. I'm pretty soft if you can't tell. I never actually meant to kill Sherry, it's just orders, which is why I was almost relieved when Shuichi shot me, so that I could plan an excuse to get away...and I've thought of leaving, leaving this country entirely and starting over, but I realized, that because I joined the B.O, I've been depending on them too much. I depend on them for a place to hide, backup, and just who to live as."

Shinichi's glare didn't waver.

"I wanted to be rid of everything. I've had of enough of turning from Sharon Vineyard to Chris Vineyard and who knows someday to Amy Vineyard or something. It's awfully surprising for me to say, but I hate ATPX4869 almost as much as you do, Cool Guy. Sherry's been pretty at finding the antidote and I've been keeping my distance so I don't get my hands on it." Chris reached into her pocket and pulled out a gun. "I need you kill me, Cool Guy."

Now, Shinichi's glare disappeared altogether. "What?"

Chris Vineyard's expression didn't change to a joking one when she held out the gun, the handle pointed to Shinichi. "Shoot me, let your anger out."

Shinichi took a step back. _What is she thinking??_ "What..."

Vermouth's lips stretched into a sad smile, "I want to meet my parents for the first time."

Shinichi took another step back. "This isn't you...."

Vermouth smiled, still the sad and faraway look in her eyes. "I know you don't want the murder blamed on you, so I'm going to knock you out and then shoot myself, is that okay?"

Shinichi took two steps back and turned to run but he felt a sharp pain jolt through him and then everything went dark.

_-to be continued-_

_This is really lame....I know it.....but I want to just FINISH this story....so I'm going with whatever's coming first. Sorry.....I have summary test in Math coming up and I'm totally going to fail. There's only one more chapter for this one, so don't worry, it's not going to continue to drag. And yes, I changed my name to 't0ky0-chan'. See you in the next chapter!_


	9. The End?

**Disclaimer: It doesn't belong to me.....sigh**

Masked Memories

_By: t0ky0-chan_

Chapter 9: The End?

It had been three years since Chris Vineyard committed suicide in Kudo Shinichi's house.

Since it was such a horrible memory, living in the house all day, the Kudo family moved to another house just down the street, two houses down from Hagase's house. It turns out that what really happened was that Chris shot Shinichi just across the chin, barely hitting the pressure point to knock him out. Hagase heard the shot from next door so he went over to investigate and found Chirs dead with Shinichi unconscious. The professor hurriedly called the police and ambulance, and that's what the police found. (Shinichi DID have to live with a sore jaw for quite a while)

After the incident, Shinichi moved out into Ran's house. A month and a half later, they got married, finally bringing Eri back home, where she said she only remained because she needed watch over the 'drunken man' since Ran's moving out. Another month later, Heiji and Kazuha were married in Osaka. Everyone went down to attend and visit, including Kaito and Aoko. These two hadn't gotten married yet....but they finally did a year later. Now, Shinichi and Ran lived together in a house down the street from Hagase, with Shinichi's parents living in a side wing. But since his parents were still having fun traveling, it didn't bother the newlyweds. Heiji and Kazuha lived in a small apartment in Osaka. Kaito and Aoko lived in a small complex about a half away from Shinichi's house.

One day in the spring, when school had let out and flowers were in bloom, Ran and Shinichi were walking home from work, Ran from a modeling agency and Shinichi from the police's office.

"Shinichi, three years ago, your nightmare ended. When I think back upon it, I don't know what we ever made such a big fuss over it...." Ran reached hand out to catch a falling leaf.

Shinichi smiled. "I know. Things are so different from three years ago. But at that time, all I wanted was for people to be safe and for you to be happy, Ran."

Ran blushed at the statement, but smiled, leaning her head against Shinichi's strong shoulder. "I know. I know. But Shinichi....what happened to Ai-chan and everyone else?"

Shinichi stopped. "I didn't tell you?"

Ran shook her head, worry in her eyes. "What, is it bad?"

Shinichi shook his head and laughed. "No, just amusing. I thought I had told you. So, after Chris committed suicide, Ai realized that she would rather live the way she is now, unlike me, she's wasn't into returning to her previous 'state'. So, she's still Haibara Ai, but she's living somewhere else now."

"Where?"

Shinichi smiled. "Abroad. Somewhere around the world."

"What?"

"She seems to be a prodigy to everyone else, so someone suggested a school to her, so she's majoring in chemistry or something." Shinichi shrugged.

Ran smiled. "I see....So, you want to go anywhere this weekend? I'm off on Friday so you want to take me somewhere?" Ran put her arms around Shinichi and grinned.

Shinichi laughed, taking her into his arms. "Sure, but where?"

"Tropical Land."

Something flashed through Shinichi's eyes. "You...you want to go back there?"

Ran shook her head. "No, I want to bring that story to an end. To go back to where it all began, it's the only way to finish it."

Shinichi nodded. "Alright. I'll take the day off."

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As Shinichi approached the spot where his whole nightmare started year ago, memories, good and bad, hit him hard, he felt the reason why Ran had chosen to come back here. As Ran stood behind him, Shinichi smiled. No matter where he went, or who he became, he was always Kudo Shinichi and no one else. What he had gone through was something no one of the ordinary would believe, but to him, it was a memory, a lesson learned through experience, lessons taught through pain, and trust gained through hardships. It was confidence gained by hurting and love stretched by separation. Everything, all the good and bad, packed into one little story. Some things are painful to remember and some things are happy, but together these memories and experience give us wisdom and guidance in life.

Ran came up behind Shinichi and slipped her arms around his waist. Shinichi held her hands and stood with his eyes closed.

_I may never have to experience something like that again, but having what I have now, I'm a pretty lucky guy. _Shinichi opened his eyes and pulled on one of Ran's hands, leading her back to the crowded lines of the amusement park.

"That story has ended, but here starts another. Let's have some fun!!" Shinichi said, dragging Ran along to one of the rides.

Ran smiled. "The End. Then, Once Upon a Time, again." Laughing, she followed her husband, and together the couple put one book of their lives away and took out another.

THE END

Completed December 15, 2004

_So it's over. I hope you liked it. I will be on vacation for two weeks, so no new stories will be up. Please review!!!!_


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